Summer fruits

Yesterday was officially the last day of summer ... and apparently the hottest summer on record for Queensland, according to an ABC news item this evening.  So we weren't imagining it when we kept commenting on how hot it has been this year!

Interestingly, last night we decided to brave it without the air-conditioner on in the bedroom - after having it running overnight almost continuously for the past 3 or 4 months.  The first thing I noticed this morning (at 4-45 a.m., mind you) was the noise of the birds in the garden.  The closed windows and the hum of the aircon motor had been blocking out bird sounds.  Today I was rudely wakened by a chorus of the loud ones - the crows and the magpies - with a backing of many other softer chirps and twitters and some distant cackles of kookaburras.

This past month there has been some wonderful rain, so everything is green as it should be.  Fruits are plump and full of juice.

Even before we decide that the pomegranates are ready to pick, we find them oozing drops of bright pink liquor - especially after rain.  The drips are worth catching - natural grenadine syrup!

Now that we have found a way to foil the rats and possums, the pineapple patch is producing magnificently.  Pineapples (Ananas comosus) are from the bromeliad family and we have some of the other decorative 'broms' growing elsewhere in the garden, too. 

Here's the first of the pineapple crop, picked early in the season.    Beside it is the handy plastic peeling/coring gadget that turns the slices into neat, rindless rings.

The one below is pictured in the garden with its home-made protective mesh covering off, but still not ripe enough to pick.

The pineapple patch is a very prickly place and I am amazed that animals aren't deterred from seeking out the fruit.  I know that dogs avoid them; I heard of a woman who used to collect discarded pineapple tops from the fruit market to plant as a protective barrier to keep dogs out of her garden. 

We have two different pineapple varieties growing - the small sweet 'roughs' with their sharp, prickly  leaves, and the larger 'smooth skins' with their kinder unserrated leaves.

Here you can peer into a plant where the red rosette is the first sign of a new fruit about to form.

Already I'm feeling sad that summer is starting to pass.  I'm going to miss the long days ... and the balmy evenings ... and evening swims in the lukewarm pool.

On the other hand, it will be nice to get my herbs growing again - and some fresh greens like cabbages and lettuces.

Comments

[Kit Hubert]

Mmmmm, yum.. pineapples, pomegranates.. it's like paradise, I tells ya!

Geeze, now I'm wishing I had some nice, exotic, super fresh fruit to snack on. It must be
wonderful to be able to step out your door and find such delicacies in your own back yard.

[Tabor]

As much as I am fascinated by your succulent entry and pictures, I am even more interested in the pineapple tool. How do you use it?

[Val]

The weather is indeed changing. Even in Melbourne they're predicting 30+ heat for the next few days. Hope to get a few more swims in this season in our unheated pool.

The sound of birds in the morning (the natural alarm clock) is something I really enjoy. The neighbors have a Norfolk Island hibiscus (giant tree!) that attracts the wattle birds in noisy squabbling flocks every other year when the tree is covered in pale lavendar(?) flowers.

[Tjilpi]

I didn't know before that pineapples are bromiliads and I grew up surrounded by pineapple farms and have lived with bromiliads in Brisbane!! For some reason pomegranates grow quite well here and seed all over - once you've got one plant you seem to get a dozen. Not that I know of anyone who uses their fruit.

Everyone laughs at me each year when I say "Well, March is here and so is winter." Predicted temp today 34C. But the evaporative aircon runs at night now, simply as a fan, without having to turn the water cooling on.

[joared]

Now I know what to look for, the red rosette, should my lone pineapple plant actually produce a fruit. I'll always remember the flavor of the pineapples in Hawaii. Of course, what I have to purchase in stores here never duplicates the taste.

I'm rejoicing that we're receiving rain this week, with a predicted well-timed weekend break when a loved one comes to visit from snow country this weekend. Then, unbelievably for us more rain the following week. We so need it.

[ML]

What a paradise you live in! Your pictures do it justice, too. I'd be very proud to be able to grow a pineapple like this.
Do you feed the birds, and if so, what? We give ours black-oil sunflower seeds, and have thus increased the birdsong around our house each year.

[Jude]

Tjilpi - am beginning to think you only read my posts to feed your nostalgia for Queensland. What a waste not to use those NT pomegranates. It's not as though you have an over-abundance of fresh fruit. They are so full of vitamin C and fibre, too. So far I've found 2 recipes to try -- for sticky red chicken wings cooked in the juice and crunchy fruit muffins that use the seeds as well.

[Jude]

Re feeding the birds - when we first moved here we often did - it was such a novelty. Put out seeds for some and fruit and honey for others and chopped meat for the kookaburras, butcher birds and magpies. We rarely offer the birds food these days; it is frowned upon by conservationists as can lead to all kinds of ills. We do share our garden pests with them though - and our tomatoes, chillies and various fruits - and also grow plants with nectar bearing flowers for them.

[Kati]

Meanwhile, we are waiting for spring --I'm sure it's there under all our snow! I've been tempted to try growing pineapple indoors. I've heard it can be done.

[Carmen]

Just wondering about your comment "last official day of summer". I was thinking it would coincide with our last official day of winter (or first day of spring)...March 21, in the northern hemisphere.